Wood Gatherer At Night

Wood Gatherer at Night – حاطب ليل

Imaam Shaafi’ee said:

مثل الذي يطلب العلم بلا حجة كمثل حاطب ليل
يحمل حزمة حطب وفيه أفعى تلدغه وهو لا يدري

“The person who takes knowledge without Hujjah (evidence/proof/authority) is like the wood gatherer at night [in the dark].
He carries a bundle of fire wood with a snake therein, which keeps biting him, while he is unaware.”

[Al-Bayhaqi – with an authentic chain in ‘al-Madkhal’, 211].

Because in the dark, a snake may look like wood.

Similarly, if we don’t check the knowledge we take and blindly accept everything – we may pick up dangerous beliefs.

It will all look the same to us.

It might be harming our faith, while we aren’t even aware.

Imam Malik and others scholars used a similar analogy for people who narrated Ahadith without chains and for people who believed everything they heard.

They used to say:

Avoid him, he is like a حاطب ليل (wood gatherer at night).

We should always ask for evidence, even as laymen.

Don’t absorb everything you hear, without checking what it is.

Some of it may be deadly – like snake venom.